Rajkot: Rajkot City Crime Branch registered a high-profile case involving an alleged multi-crore investment fraud worth more than Rs 144 crore. The complaint, filed by 56-year-old Jayendra Akbari, has alleged that victims were deceived into investing in fraudulent schemes under the guise of an industrial coal trading business.The accused —Jay Chotaliya, Mitesh Sanghvi and Manish Gangi — have been booked for cheating, criminal conspiracy and breach of trust. According to police, Chotaliya was a financial adviser to a local infrastructure firm owner, who introduced him to Akbari in 2021.The accused persuaded the victims to invest by claiming that their company ran a vast industrial coal trading network across India. To draw capital, the firm promised exceptionally high returns with a five-year lock-in period, projecting stellar corporate growth and a turnover of up to Rs 2,000 crore.While the firm initially cultivated trust by honoring preliminary interactions and projecting corporate stability, cracks surfaced when investors experienced difficulties recovering their principal or promised yields.A preliminary audit of the company’s financial documents exposed serious irregularities.Investigating officer D M Haripara stated that police are scrutinizing bank trails, auditing the three investment schemes and tracking the movement of capital across associated entities.
